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Patton's Spaceship | Rating | |
| A | |||
| John Barnes | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Timeline Wars | Patton's Spaceship, Washington's Dirigible, Caesar's Bicycle | ||
When half of Mike Strang's family was massacred by the terrorist group known as Blade of the Most Merciful, it sent him into a deep funk. When another attack tried to finish the job, he found a new purpose for his life: hurting people who need hurting. So he became a bodyguard, and a good one. But when the last remnants of the Blade makes one more go, he finds that there is more to the organization than a bunch of nutballs. They're backed by the Closers, cross-time fascists who want all time under their heel. They are opposed by the Allied Timelines for Nondeterminism, or ATN, and Mike quickly volunteers to join the fight. His first task is to simply be a native guide for an ATN agent, but when that goes a bit astray he finds himself in an alternate United States where Closer-aided Nazis conquered the world! If he can't manage to find a resistance movement or at least keep his head low, he'll be off to one of American death camp.
This is not what one might consider a deep book. There are few new concepts, and no twists on old ones. The idea of a war across time, and up and down it as well, is nearly as old as the idea of time travel itself. The characters are simple, though admittedly never so much so as to become two-dimensional or unbelievable. The only real contribution Barnes makes is in the weaponry; the ATN has the most kick-ass pistol I've ever read of.
Nevertheless, I loved it. This is exactly the kind of book I love. Intricate without being confusing, with a multitude of locations both familiar and bizarre. There is lots of action to keep the pace racing along - I was fifty pages in before I realized it. The exposition is also fast paced and entertaining. It comes in lumps that might last an entire chapter or more, but it is used largely to give the reader some breathing room. As well as give some background information, of course.
I found I did have one problem with the book. At the end, one character in the alternate Earth we only knew by first name is revealed to be very important or famous in our timeline. But his last name isn't revealed, and the book never mentions any of his real-life works that might let me look it up. And despite his first name being Al, I'm pretty sure he's not Einstein, since he was neaither German nor a physicist. It was extremely frustrating, and I can't understand why Barnes teased his readers like that.
Frustrating though it may be, it wasn't exactly important. It hurt the story not at all, nor the book. I loved this thing, and look forward to reading it again at a later date.
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